State Representative Rodney D. Pierce will be hosting a town hall meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, January 27 in Room 108 of the Phillip W. Taylor Complex at Halifax Community College at 100 College Drive in Weldon.
Pierce is the newly elected representative for North Carolina House District 27 covering Halifax, Northampton and Warren Counties.
“Town halls will be a staple of my servant leadership in this role as state representative,” Pierce said. “Though this first one will be in Halifax, I will host town halls throughout all three counties in the district, probably on a quarterly basis. Efforts will be made to live stream them through our campaign’s Facebook page when they are held in person and some may be virtual in the future. Their purpose is to provide information on constituent services, legislative agenda updates, opportunities for our youth, explanations for the votes that I take on bills, and to answer questions from constituents.”
Halifax County Schools Board of Education attorney Larry Armstrong has agreed to provide information on the ongoing Leandro v. State school funding lawsuit during this upcoming town hall.
Pierce is an alumnus of HCS, which is an original plaintiff in the litigation.
Often referring to himself as a “Leandro kid,” he was a high school sophomore when the suit was first filed in Halifax County Superior Court in 1994.
“More funding of our state’s public schools is one of the pillars of my political platform,” said Pierce. “I’m very appreciative of Mr. Armstrong’s willingness to share his expertise, particularly at this critical time when Republican majorities in two branches of our state government are working to defund public education. Back in 2022, when the state Supreme Court had a Democratic majority, they ruled in Leandro that the state must release $1.7 billion to further fund public education. After the 2022 elections changed the court’s majority to Republican, they decided to take the unprecedented step of rehearing Leandro in 2025 so they can rule in a way that is unfavorable to plaintiffs like Halifax County Schools.”
Pierce said, “At the same time this is happening, the Republican majority in our state legislature is passing tax cuts for the wealthy that will take away funds that could go towards public education, and spending billions toward unaccountable private school vouchers.”
He said this is even after school boards around the state, including those in House District 27, adopted resolutions to prioritize public school funding and teacher pay. “We have to educate the public and connect the dots for them so they see how the consequences of our elections at the local and state level, not just the federal, play a role in what happens in their lives on a daily basis.”